Learn Hardcore Swahili: Rahma hupiga simu kwa bibi yake mara chache, lakini kila simu huwa ndefu sana. - Rahma calls her grandmother rarely, but each call is very long.

The prefix hu- here marks a habitual/general action – something someone usually/typically does, rather than what they are doing right now.

Rahma hupiga simu…
= Rahma (usually) calls / Rahma tends to call…

If you said:

Rahma anapiga simu…
this would be more like Rahma is calling / Rahma calls (now / these days), focusing on the present or ongoing time rather than a general habit.

A couple of points:

With this hu- (habitual) form, you normally don’t use a subject prefix on the verb (no a-, ni-, wa-, etc.).
- Rahma hupiga simu ✅
- Rahma anahupiga simu ❌
The subject is usually a full noun or pronoun outside the verb: Rahma, Yeye, Watoto, etc.

So hu- here gives the idea: as a rule / as a habit / generally speaking.

Why do we say piga simu for “to call (on the phone)” instead of just a single verb?

Swahili often uses verb + noun combinations where English would use a single verb.
Piga simu literally means “hit/strike a phone”, but idiomatically it means “make a phone call” or “call (someone)”.

Some patterns:

kupiga simu – to make a phone call
kupiga picha – to take a picture (literally “hit a picture”)
kupiga kelele – to make noise

So hupiga simu is just the normal idiomatic way to say “(she) calls / (she) makes phone calls.”

Why is it kwa bibi yake after hupiga simu? What does kwa do here?

Here kwa functions like “to” (the recipient of the call).

kupiga simu kwa mtu – to call someone (lit. to hit a phone to someone)

So:

hupiga simu kwa bibi yake
= she (usually) calls her grandmother
(literally: she usually makes a phone call to her grandmother)

You’ll often see two patterns in Swahili:

kupiga simu kwa mtu
kumpigia mtu simu (with object marker -m- = “him/her”)

Both mean “to call someone.” For example:

Rahma anampigia bibi yake simu – Rahma is calling her grandmother
Rahma anapiga simu kwa bibi yake – Rahma is calling her grandmother

The sentence you’re studying uses pattern (1), with kwa.

What does mara chache mean exactly, and why is it plural?

Mara literally means “time(s)/occasion(s)” and chache means “few”.
So mara chache is literally “a few times”, but together they function as the adverb “rarely / seldom”.

Some related expressions:

mara nyingi – many times / often / frequently
mara moja – once (one time)
mara kwa mara – repeatedly / from time to time

It’s plural because you’re talking about “a few occasions”, even though in English we compress that into a single adverb (“rarely”).

Where can mara chache go in the sentence? Is its position fixed?

It’s fairly flexible. In your sentence it appears here:

Rahma hupiga simu kwa bibi yake mara chache…

You could also say:

Rahma mara chache hupiga simu kwa bibi yake…
Mara chache, Rahma hupiga simu kwa bibi yake…

The meaning stays essentially the same: “Rahma rarely calls her grandmother.”

Typical positions:

After the verb phrase: hupiga simu … mara chache
Before the verb: Rahma mara chache hupiga simu…
At the start as a fronted adverb: Mara chache, Rahma…

All of these are natural.

What does kila in kila simu do, and why is simu singular?

Kila means “each” / “every”. After kila, the noun is always singular in Swahili, even though English uses a plural in “every call”/“all the calls.”

So:

kila simu – each/every call
kila mtoto – each/every child
kila siku – every day

You do not say:

❌ kila simu(s) or kila watoto

The singular noun after kila already carries the idea of “each one” / “every.”

What is the role of huwa in kila simu huwa ndefu sana? How is that different from kila simu ni ndefu sana?

Huwa often means “usually is / tends to be” when used like this.

kila simu huwa ndefu sana
≈ every call tends to be very long / is usually very long

If you say:

kila simu ni ndefu sana
= every call is very long

This sounds more like a simple statement of fact, without the nuance of typicality or tendency.

So:

huwa adds a sense of habitual or characteristic behavior (how things usually are).
ni just links the subject and the adjective in a straightforward way.

That’s why this sentence nicely combines with the first clause (she rarely calls, but when she does, the calls tend to be very long).

Is huwa the same as the hu- in hupiga?

No, they’re related in meaning (both often involve “usual”/“habitual”), but they are different forms:

hu- in hupiga is a prefix attached directly to the verb stem, marking habitual/general aspect.
huwa is a separate word, historically from the verb kuwa (“to be”). In modern usage it often works like an auxiliary or a semi-verb meaning “usually is / tends to be”.

Example contrast:

Rahma hupiga simu mara chache.
– Rahma rarely calls (habitual action).
Simu zake huwa ndefu.
– Her calls are usually long (usual state/characteristic).

So they’re not grammatically the same thing, but both point to habitual/typical situations.

Why is it bibi yake and not bibi wake?

This is about noun class agreement in Swahili.

Bibi (grandmother / lady / wife) belongs to the N-class of nouns.
Possessive adjectives have to agree with the noun class of the thing possessed.

For the N-class, the possessive for “his/her” is yake.

So:

bibi yake – his/her grandmother
simu yake – his/her phone
nguo yake – his/her clothes/garment

By contrast, wake is used with m-/wa- (class 1/2) nouns like:

rafiki wake – his/her friend
mtoto wake – his/her child

So bibi yake is correct because bibi is an N-class noun.

Can bibi yake mean both “his grandmother” and “her grandmother”? How do you tell?

Yes, bibi yake by itself can mean “his grandmother” or “her grandmother” (or even “their grandmother” in some contexts). The possessive yake just means “his/her”; it doesn’t show gender like in English.

You work out who “yake” refers to from context:

In your sentence, the subject is Rahma, a woman’s name, so bibi yake is understood as “her grandmother.”
If the subject were Ali, then in that context bibi yake would be understood as “his grandmother.”

Swahili doesn’t grammatically mark this difference; it relies on the surrounding information.

Does ndefu mean “long” in time as well as in physical length?

Yes. Ndefu is an adjective meaning “long”, and it can refer to:

Physical length:
- barabara ndefu – a long road
- nywele ndefu – long hair
Duration/length of time (as in your sentence):
- simu ndefu – a long call
- hadithi ndefu – a long story

So kila simu huwa ndefu sana = every call is very long in duration.

What does sana add in ndefu sana?

Sana is an adverb meaning “very / extremely / a lot.” It intensifies the adjective.

ndefu – long
ndefu sana – very long / really long

You can use sana with many adjectives and even with verbs:

nzuri sana – very good
nimechoka sana – I’m very tired
anapenda kusoma sana – she really likes reading

In your sentence, ndefu sana strongly emphasizes that the calls aren’t just long; they’re very long.